Us Against the World
by Revhead
Summary: Blaine's first few weeks at McKinley were not easy. He's new, he's gay, and he's in the glee club, all of which make him an ideal target. Dalton was an island of safety for him that is gone now, but Kurt would never leave him floundering alone and helpless in an ocean of hate. Kurt Hummel to the rescue. - Title from song by Christina Milian.


**Us Against The World**

Blaine knew going in that McKinley High would be nothing like Dalton. He made the decision to transfer because he wanted to be with Kurt, and even the knowledge that homophobia and bullying were rife at the school was not enough to deter him. But it was one thing to know in his mind how he was likely to be treated there; it was another thing entirely to experience it for himself.

For a few precious hours on his first day, he entertained the notion that maybe McKinley wasn't as bad as Kurt's stories made it out to be. He didn't doubt that every word Kurt had said about the place was true, he just let himself believe that with Karofsky gone the atmosphere and the general attitude of the student body would have improved.

He performed his song out in the yard at lunch time and was encouraged that so many people seemed to appreciate the show. When the cheerleaders came to dance with him, he thought it meant that the popular kids were finally supportive of the glee club and would therefore no longer be inclined to bully its members. The applause began, and he allowed himself to feel a rush of exhilarated happiness.

Then he watched in disbelief as an inferno, deliberately lit, engulfed the purple piano, realising in horror that the girls had been mocking him all along. The flames licking over the piano were a physical representation of the bigotry these students harboured in their hearts, and the ashes were a symbol of Blaine's crumbling hopes. Kurt was right; here the glee club was at the bottom of the food chain, and no one was going to let them forget it.

"You were amazing," Kurt murmured as he hugged him tightly, and Blaine remembered that the only opinion that mattered to him was Kurt's. He took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar scent of his boyfriend's hair products and letting it calm his nerves. When they parted Blaine was able to give Kurt a genuine smile, reminded that being here with the boy he loved was far better than staying at Dalton without him, regardless of whoever else was around and whatever else happened.

ooOOoo

Blaine closed his locker and was startled to discover a blonde girl leaning casually against the adjacent door, beaming at him. "Why hello there," she greeted him cheerfully.

His manners took a few seconds to kick in. "Uh- hi. I'm sorry, am I in your way?" He made to back up a step, but she snagged his sleeve to stop him.

"Not at all. I'm quite enjoying the view, actually."

He glanced behind his shoulder to see what she was looking at, and when he returned his bemused gaze back to her face her eyes flicked up to stare into his, her tongue running lightly across her bottom lip.

"You must be new here; there's no way I could forget a handsome face like yours."

"Um, yeah, it's my second day." Belatedly he held out a hand. "I'm Blaine Anderson."

She hummed. "Well, Blaine Anderson," his name rolled off her tongue as though she was trying it out, "most people call me Courtney, but you can just call me tonight." She winked at him.

He stared at her blankly for a moment, thinking, _That's a strange nickname… _"Oh!" He suddenly realised what he had been missing from this conversation and hastily tried to backpedal. "I'm, ah, flattered, but-"

Pulling out a purple pen, she grabbed his hand and started scribbling her number on it as he sputtered incoherently, not sure how to respond without offending her.

"And as a little preview of what you might be able to earn if you buy me dinner…" She slipped a hand behind his neck and pulled him in.

His eyes widened in panic. "Wai- mff!"

Her lips sealed over his, cutting off his protest, and her tongue thrust forcefully into his mouth. He tried desperately not to gag, gasping in relief when she released him after what felt like an eternity.

"Like that?" she purred.

"I'm gay!" he blurted, much louder than he intended. Within moments, a pack of five girls had joined Courtney, encircling him and cutting off his escape route.

"What did you say?" Courtney asked, hands on her hips as she glared at him.

"I'm gay," he repeated, swallowing nervously but unwilling to back down on the truth.

"Uh-uh, no," one of the other girls said, waggling her finger at him. "That delicious hunk of man candy can_not_ play for the other team. It would not be fair on the female population at this school." The others nodded their agreement.

"You must be confused, sweetie," someone spoke up, her voice dripping in sugary sweetness, "disoriented from the stress of changing schools."

"Yeah," another agreed. "We can help you."

He shook his head, "No, I assure you, I'm very sure that I'm g-"

"Well, we'll cure you," Courtney said, sliding a caressing hand down his cheek. "We are six of the hottest girls at McKinley. By the time we're finished with you, you'll be chasing every skirt you see, trying desperately to recapture what we had together."

She made to lean in again and he backed up, only to yelp as he felt someone pinch his rear.

"You've already had a taste, Courtney, it's my turn." A brunette pushed him against the locker, pressing herself flush against him, and tried to capture his lips even as he turned his head, trying to evade her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not interes-"

"You want this," the girl breathed in his ear.

He had never felt so uncomfortable in his life, unable to physically push her away because he was a gentleman and she was a lady and he didn't want to hurt her, but reasoning didn't seem to be getting him anywhere. "No- I-"

She threaded her fingers into his hair, tugging him around to face her.

"Stop- please, I don't-"

"HEY!"

Kurt's voice broke through the chaos, and a moment later Blaine was freed from the vulture's clutches.

"Get the hell off him," Kurt snarled, standing protectively in front of Blaine as he gasped for breath.

"This does not concern you, gay-face," Courtney said bitchily.

"No? I'm a witness- My testimony could have you up on charges for attempted sexual assault."

"Getting to make out with a hot girl is not assault, Lady Pants, it's Christmas come early."

"He told you to stop, but you were going to force him against his will anyway. That's assault. And for your information, as I'm sure he has told you, Blaine is gay."

"We can fix that," Courtney smirked.

"Yeah, I was just about to kiss him until he was so hot for me that he'd need a shower in liquid ice."

Kurt looked her up and down deliberately, then snorted. "I doubt you could have that effect on anyone, Brianna." The offended brunette was about to respond with a headed retort, but Kurt cut across her. "Besides, Blaine is taken. Let me show you how it's done, ladies."

With those words he spun to face Blaine, who'd had enough time to recover by this point and felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the expression on Kurt's face.

"Come here, baby," Kurt murmured, tugging the waistband of his jeans to pull him closer. Blaine came more than willingly, slipping his arms around Kurt's neck and allowing his eyelids to flutter closed as those beautiful soft lips claimed their rightful place against his own.

Kurt started off gently, letting Blaine replace the awful feeling of that girl forcing herself on him with the gentle rubbing of lips that expressed love and affection and longing all at once. After a few heavenly moments, Blaine parted his lips in invitation, letting his wonderful, caring boyfriend know that it was alright and that he _wanted _this. Kurt sucked lightly on his bottom lip before his tongue slipped inside to tangle and dance with Blaine's. A soft sound escaped from his throat and Blaine moaned in response, rising up on his toes as Kurt's hands splayed across his back and pressed their bodies closer.

The world faded until all Blaine knew was the beautiful boy in his arms who was turning his brain to mush and knees to jelly with the hottest kiss they had ever shared. Unconsciously, Blaine's hips rocked against Kurt's and he felt a hard bulge dig into him, equal to that of his own.

And then Kurt was pulling back from him and Blaine whined at the loss, reluctantly opening his eyes so he could locate his boyfriend. His gaze was caught by lips that were puffy and red, gorgeously smooth cheeks that were flushed pink, and eyes that were darkened by arousal. Blaine reached for him, but Kurt just caught his hand with his own and squeezed gently. "Later, baby."

The rest of the world returned, then, and Blaine realised they were still standing in the corridor at McKinley High surrounded by a pack of six furious girls and a sea of disgusted faces all glaring at them.

"Filthy fags," Courtney spat, turning heel with a flick of her hair to storm off. Her friends followed suit.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Kurt asked softly, rubbing a soothing thumb across Blaine's knuckles.

"Who wouldn't be after a mind-blowing kiss like that?" Blaine exhaled, sucking absently on his bottom lip to taste the delicious mixture of non-fat mocha and vanilla and _Kurt _that lingered there.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. Mrs Bletheim kept us all in Geometry class for an extra five minutes because no one would fess up to leaving a thumbtack on her chair…"

"Puck?" Blaine guessed.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Who else?"

Blaine chucked.

Kurt frowned a little at him, his brow still furrowed in concern. "Are you sure you're alright? I know how horrible it is to have someone kiss you against your will." He shuddered.

Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand, remembering all-too-vividly how a distraught Kurt had turned up on his doorstep, shaking in terror and revulsion as he choked out the story of what had happened to him when he confronted Karofsky in the boy's locker room. Blaine was painfully aware that Kurt had been following his advice, and his heart had broken when Kurt sobbed out his confession that he had never felt so dirty, so violated, or so ashamed in his entire life and that he didn't know what to do.

"I'm fine, honey, really," Blaine replied more seriously, pressing a kiss to the back of Kurt's hand. "I had my knight in a stunning white Marc Jacobs jacket come to my rescue. The girls were just a little… enthusiastic."

Kurt shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You are too handsome for your own good, Blaine Warbler."

Blaine lifted his eyebrows and smiled. "Hum, well that may be, but I know this really hot guy with a dazzling smile who steals my spotlight whenever I'm around him."

"Oh? And who might that be?"

Blaine swatted his arm playfully. "You, silly." His expression became sly. "Although… I could _pretend_ that it is someone else if it will get me another of those amazingly sexy jealous-Kurt-Hummel kisses."

Kurt giggled – a sound Blaine loved to hear. "Baby, that wasn't my jealous kiss. If the tortured expression on your face was anything to go by, I think it is safe to say those hussies were no competition for me."

"True," Blaine acknowledged, wrinkling his nose.

"That was my protective boyfriend kiss," Kurt went on. "And you ain't seen _nothing_ yet."

"Mmmm," Blaine purred. "Well my brave hero is free to come back and visit me any time." He leaned in suggestively, but Kurt gently pushed his face away.

"No, no, no. Not here, babe. We've given the crowds of haters enough ammunition against us to last for weeks. No need to pour more fuel on the fire." Apologetically, Kurt's grip tightened on his hand before he reluctantly let go.

"I love you, Kurt," Blaine said quietly.

"Even though I dragged you into the shooting range and just painted a huge target on your back?" The happy lilt had faded from Kurt's voice, and his beautiful eyes were cast to the ground with guilt.

"Hey. I chose to come here," Blaine reminded him. "And what you just did was ensure that no pushy girl is going to try to hit on me again, for which I am _abundantly_ grateful."

"This isn't going to be easy," Kurt told him sadly. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah." He was beginning to understand the truth of that statement. "But I would go to hell and back to be with you, Kurt. I promise that nothing could ever scare me away."

"Not even the bullies of McKinley?"

"_Especially_ not the bullies of McKinley," Blaine said firmly. "They can't touch us."

Kurt smiled at him, glanced around quickly, then kissed him on the cheek. "I love you."

ooOOoo

"What are you doing?" Blaine asked. He had turned up at his locker that morning to find Kurt already there. Admittedly, this might not have been a strange occurrence were it not for the fact that Kurt had a bucket of soapy water at his feet and was scrubbing down the locker door with a scourer.

"Blaine!" Kurt's voice was higher than usual, and he made to hide the scourer behind his back before aborting the motion as he seemed to realise he had already been caught out. He blushed a deep red. "I, um, was just- well, you see, the previous owner of this locker always had really grubby hands, so I just thought I would clean all the graf- grime off for you."

"Thanks…" Blaine said slowly, even though he was quite sure that the locker had been perfectly clean yesterday. "You didn't have to, though."

"Oh, it's no trouble, no trouble," Kurt assured him, and Blaine thought he was trying a little hard to sell it. "I enjoy cleaning."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Without gloves on?"

Kurt looked down at his hands, horrified to discover that they were covered in water and soap suds and were beginning to resemble prunes. "I-I forgot!"

That wasn't like Kurt at all, Blaine reflected. Good skin care was one of his top priorities in life. And if Blaine hadn't already been convinced that something odd was going on with his boyfriend, he was sure of it now.

"Kurt, what-?"

"I need to moisturise!" Kurt exclaimed, dropping the scourer into the bucket before lifting the whole thing. "I'll talk to you later." He hurried away, leaving a bemused Blaine in his wake.

It wasn't until a few days later that Blaine discovered what had really been going on. He turned up at school earlier than usual and, once again, he found Kurt scrubbing furiously at the door of his locker. Except this time he was crying in frustration, swiping at the tears with one hand as he tried desperately to erase the words scrawled across the metal in big bold letters with the other.

"Kurt…?"

"I'm sorry," Kurt sobbed. "I'm sorry. I tried- I'm trying, but they used permanent marker this time instead of paint, and it's not- it won't come off. I'm sorry…" His forehead sank against the huge inscription of 'faggot', and his arms dropped to his sides in defeat. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Blaine was frozen, his mind flooded with memories from that first dreadful week at his old school after he had come out of the closest. Guys he once thought were his friends had defaced his locker in much the same way, and the situation only grew exponentially worse from there.

Seeing those words again, hurtful and hating and cruel, caused nausea to roil in his stomach and claw up his throat. It had been a long time since he had been forced to face this sort of degrading attack on who he was as a person, and the strength he thought he had built up in his time at Dalton abruptly crumbled. But he had never been strong, had he? He ran away, and then he pretended to be tougher than he was.

"I never wanted you to see this," Kurt confessed softly. "I tried to hide what they were doing from you for as long as I could, but I failed. I'm sorry, Blaine. You don't deserve this."

The memories shrank back as the pain in his boyfriend's voice dragged Blaine from his bout of self-pity. His attention refocused on the boy in front of him. Kurt still had his back turned, and his shoulders were shaking. He had forgotten the gloves again, Blaine noticed as he watched water drip from Kurt's fingertips onto the tiles; those beautiful, soft hands were now wrinkled and rubbed raw.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Blaine croaked through the surge of emotion that had risen up within him. He placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder and gently pulled him around. "You weren't the one who wrote all those horrible things about m-me." He took a breath. "It was stupid, ignorant bullies who are so scared of people who are different from them that they feel the need to try to tear us down. But we won't let them win."

Kurt offered a watery smile. "How are you so brave?"

"I'm not," Blaine admitted. "If it wasn't for you standing there, loving me, doing your best to protect me from the same abuse you suffered alone for years, I would be a blubbering mess right now. But you, Kurt, _you_ are my strength."

Kurt's lower lip trembled, tears welling up in his eyes. When Blaine spread his arms, Kurt fell into them gratefully, ducking his face into Blaine's neck. "And you are mine," he murmured.

ooOOoo

Blaine thought that today, for once, he would dare to be controversial. "I dunno, Kurt, I think I might prefer this week's _Vogue_ cover over last week's."

Kurt stared at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? Did you even _see _the outfit she was wearing?"

Blaine bit back a smile; he loved to bait his boyfriend. "I thought it was great. The style of the dress, the cut of the jacket-"

"Both of which may have been well and good on their own, but together they just battled violently for attention and created an eyesore! Not to _mention_ how the colours totally clashed with her complexion. I don't know _what_ they were thinking…"

"Well, if you had the chance to do the cover over, how would you change it?"

"Oh, let me count the ways…"

Kurt proceeded to list all the modifications he would make to the outfit, his indignation and clearly superior fashion sense making Blaine smile helplessly at his perfect boyfriend. He could listen to Kurt talk all day.

"-that is, of course, assuming I would keep her as the model in the first place, which I'm not sure I- Blaine, watch out!"

Before Blaine knew what was happening he went from walking beside Kurt to being pushed behind him; there was a loud splash, swiftly followed by a burst of cruel laughter and the sound of spluttering.

"Kurt?"

His boyfriend turned to him, and Blaine saw that he was covered in a bright red substance that slipped and dripped from his face down his impeccable outfit.

"Oh my god, Kurt…"

"'s okay," Kurt coughed. "I have another set of clothes in my locker."

Blaine couldn't believe Kurt was taking this so calmly. "Kurt, they just-"

"Gave me a slushie facial," Kurt filled in for him, wiping the worst of the damage out of his eyes. "Yeah. It's been a while."

"Who was it?" Blaine demanded. "I swear, I'm going to-"

"Calm down, sweetie. I'm okay." Poised and collected, Kurt started walking towards the bathrooms, a stunned Blaine staring after him for a moment before he ran to catch up.

"Kurt, this is not okay! They can't get away with doing this to you!"

Kurt paused briefly at his locker to grab a bag of clothes he had stashed in there, and Blaine felt anger bubble up inside him at this further piece of evidence that his boyfriend expected to be treated this way – to the point of coming _prepared!_

"He didn't actually mean to hit me this time," Kurt said, as though that could make it any better. "He was aiming for- well, never mind."

"Aiming for me?" Blaine guessed, belatedly registering the fact that Kurt had shielded him. "And you took it in my place?" The silence he received in return was answer enough. "Kurt…"

Kurt pushed the bathroom door open. "Help me wash this gunk out of my hair and we'll call it even."

Blaine didn't contest the statement out loud, but he swore to himself that from now on he would keep his eyes peeled and make sure that the next slushie aimed at his boyfriend would hit him instead. He owed Kurt at least that much.

Kurt went straight for the sink, but Blaine caught his wrist. "Wait just a moment there, gorgeous." He smiled seductively. "You are looking _damn_ edible, and I just can't resist the urge to do this…"

He pulled Kurt in and ran his tongue across the other boy's lips. "Mmm," he hummed appreciatively, "cherry flavoured Kurt Hummel." He swiped his tongue downward to capture a droplet of slushie that was sliding along Kurt's jawline, then dotted a line of soft kisses up his cheek to brush his lips over Kurt's closed eyelids and gently remove the traces of red liquid that still clung to his lashes. Blaine's determined effort to clean every drop of slushie from that soft, pale skin was interrupted by Kurt tugging his hair and capturing his lips with his own for an impassioned kiss. Blaine found he didn't mind all that much, responding eagerly until a desperate need for oxygen forced them to come up for air.

"For that," Kurt said breathlessly, "I would take a slushie any day."

"I'm still mad you know. That outfit deserves vengeance."

"My dry cleaner might be able to resurrect it," Kurt mused, examining the damage with a critical eye. "I shopped around once getting slushied became a regular occurrence and I found an absolute miracle worker. My dry cleaning bill is more than my phone bill and magazine expenses combined, though."

"I want revenge," Blaine stated firmly.

"Blaine, honey, you are incredibly sexy when you are all angry and riled up on my behalf, but if we even so much as attempt to slushie a jock we'll get beaten to a pulp by the entire football team."

Blaine liked to think that since he had taken up boxing and joined the Dalton fight club he could handle his own, but he knew realistically that up against a pack of footy players built like brick houses he probably wouldn't stand a chance. An open confrontation out in the hallway wasn't exactly what he had in mind, though.

The smile that curved his lips could only be described as wicked. "Not if they don't know it was us."

ooOOoo

"Hey, Finn," Kurt caught his brother's attention before he left the classroom. "You and the other glee clubbers may wanna hold back on entering the locker room after football practice today."

"Why?"

Kurt smiled. "Just because."

The next day word spread around the school like wildfire. Football players stormed around in a foul temper, the whispers and suppressed giggles that followed them through the hallways gradually escalating into jeers and loud bouts of laughter.

"I heard that the team got slushied by a whole frickin' rainbow!" Artie exclaimed at glee club practice that afternoon.

"You could still see the stains on some of their letterman jackets!" Rachel added happily.

"How could anyone pull that off without being murdered on the spot?" Tina wondered.

"It was a well-laid trap," Mike explained. "Someone set up a huge bucket above the locker room door and rigged it to spill when the door opened. They didn't have to be anywhere nearby when it happened, so the team has no idea who it was."

"Genius!" Mercedes crowed. "And can I just say: It is about time!"

"I wish I knew who did it," Puck said wistfully. "I could learn a thing or two from those masterminds."

"Oh, I think I have a fair idea," Finn said, eying Kurt and Blaine suspiciously.

Under scrutiny Kurt couldn't maintain the poker face – he split into a wide grin, and Blaine's expression mirrored his own.

Following Finn's gaze, comprehension slowly dawned on their fellow glee-clubbers. They stared at them two unlikely culprits in disbelief until after a few moments a cheer rose up from the crowd of kids who had been teased, ridiculed, slushied and bullied by those jocks more times than they could count.

Kurt and Blaine were swamped by hugs, kisses and slaps on the back, and flooded with praise and congratulations. When the excitement eventually died down and the students began to take their seats, Kurt claimed the stage.

"I admit nothing," Kurt began, though his sly wink was as good as a confession. "However, I _would_ like to say that the bullies of McKinley should know now that they have been messing with the wrong people, and we're not going to take it lying down anymore!"

"Praise!" Mercedes called out as the others cheered and clapped. Kurt waved them to silence, his expression morphing to one more serious. His eyes sought out Blaine.

"Blaine, I know that your first few weeks here have not been easy. You went from attending a school with a zero tolerance no bullying policy to a school where even some of the more extreme forms of bullying receive barely a hint of recognition or punishment – a light slap on the wrist for some, maybe. Yesterday, we did get a small measure of justice." He smiled, and it was returned by Blaine without ruining the moment.

"But I know that here it can sometimes feel like the whole world is against you," Kurt continued. "So I want to sing you a song to let you know that baby…

"It's Us Against the World."

_If the sun shuts down and decided not to shine no more_

_I would still have you, baby_

_If we see the last day and they say we gotta go to war_

_I'll be fighting with you, baby_

_Cuz I know if I'm falling, you won't let me hit the ground_

_If the boat is sinking, I know you won't let me drown_

_No matter what anyone could say_

_This is the only place for me_

_And no one could ever take that away_

_Nothing could come between us_

_If the sun shuts down and decided not to shine no more, no more_

_I would still have you, you, you, you, you, you, you_

_If we see the last day and they say we gotta go to war, to war_

_I'll be fighting with you, you, you, you, you_

_Because it's us against the world_

_The world, the world_

_You know it's us against the world_

_The world, the world, ohh_

_Now if I'm lost at sea 7 days, I'm not alone_

_If I'm holding you, you, you, you, you_

_And if it all end's; everybody in the world is gone_

_I'll be standing with you, baby_

_And if it's the last breath I take_

_I'll leave my kiss my with you_

_If there's a wall between us, baby_

_I know I'll break through_

_No matter what anyone could say_

_This is the only place for me_

_And no one could ever take that away_

_Nothing could come between us_

_If the sun shuts down and decided not to shine no more, no more_

_I would still have you, you, you, you, you, you, you_

_If we see the last day and they say we gotta go to war, to war_

_I'll be fighting with you, you, you, you, you_

_Because it's us against the world_

_Nothing's stronger now than you and I_

_Cause your love is all I got_

_And this ain't never gon' stop, no, whoa_

_There's no distance here when we're apart_

_Come on in from the cold, lay your head on my shoulder_

_Ride like a soldier, I'ma stay right here_

_If the sun shuts down and decided not to shine no more, no more_

_I would still have you, you, you, you, you_

_Because it's us against the world_

_The world, the world_

_You know it's us against the world_

_The world, the world_

_Because it's us against the world_

_The world, the world_

_You know it's us against the world_

_The world, the world_

_Because it's us against the world_

- Song by Christina Milian


End file.
